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HAZLETON, Pa. — Penn State Hazleton’s annual diversity presentation will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, in 115 Evelyn Graham Academic Building. The event is free and open to campus students, faculty and staff, as well as the public.

Jamie Longazel, an area native and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Dayton, is the featured speaker and will address the topic of racial and ethnic divides in Greater Hazleton.

His research focuses on immigration law and politics, crime and inequality, and race relations. Longazel is the author of “Undocumented Fears: Immigration and the Politics of Divide and Conquer in Hazleton, Pennsylvania,” published this year. The book focuses on the Illegal Immigration Relief Act (IIRA), passed in Hazleton in 2006. The ordinance enacted penalties for renting to or hiring undocumented immigrants and declared English the city’s official language. The ordinance gained national prominence and kicked off a parade of local and state-level legislative initiatives designed to crack down on undocumented immigrants. In the book, Longazel uses the debate around Hazleton’s controversial ordinance as a case study that reveals the mechanics of contemporary divide and conquer politics.

He and Benjamin Fleury-Steiner are the authors of “The Pains of Mass Imprisonment.” Longazel is a research fellow at the University of Dayton Human Rights Center. Previously, he was a doctoral fellow at the American Bar Foundation in Chicago. He holds a doctorate in sociology and a master’s in sociology, both from the University of Delaware, and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Bloomsburg University.

Jamie Longazel, an area native and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Dayton, is the featured speaker for Penn State Hazleton's diversity presentation on Oct. 3.